1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to lithographic systems and apparatuses and, more particularly, to lithographic exposure processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lithographic projection apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, the patterning device may generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of photo-sensitive material (resist).
The term “patterning device” as employed herein should be broadly interpreted as referring to a mechanism that can be used to endow an incoming radiation beam with a patterned cross-section, corresponding to a pattern that is to be created in a target portion of the substrate; the term “light valve” can also be used in this context. Generally, the pattern will correspond to a particular functional layer in a device being created in the target portion, such as an integrated circuit or other device (see below). Examples of such a patterning device include:                mask: the concept of a mask is well known in lithography, and it includes mask types such as binary, alternating phase-shift, and attenuated phase-shift, as well as various hybrid mask types. Placement of such a mask in the radiation beam causes selective transmission (in the case of a transmissive mask) or reflection (in the case of a reflective mask) of the radiation impinging on the mask, according to the pattern on the mask. In the case of a mask, the support structure will generally be a mask table, which ensures that the mask can be held at a desired position in the incoming radiation beam, and that it can be moved relative to the beam if so desired;        programmable mirror array: an example of such a device is a matrix-addressable surface having a visco-elastic control layer and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an apparatus is that (for example) addressed areas of the reflective surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas unaddressed areas reflect incident light as undiffracted light. Using an appropriate filter, the said undiffracted light can be filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted light behind; in this manner, the beam becomes patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable surface. The required matrix addressing can be performed using suitable electronic means. More information on such mirror arrays can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,891 and 5,523,193, which are incorporated herein by reference. In the case of a programmable mirror array, the said support structure may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required; and        programmable LCD array: an example of such a construction is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872, which is incorporated herein by reference. As above, the support structure in this case may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.        
For purposes of simplicity, the rest of this text may, at certain locations, specifically direct itself to examples involving a mask and mask table; however, the general principles discussed in such instances should be seen in the broader context of the patterning device as set forth above.
In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions that are successively irradiated via the projection system, one at a time. In current apparatus, employing patterning by a mask on a mask table, a distinction can be made between two different types of machine. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus—commonly referred to as a wafer stepper—each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion in one go. In an alternative apparatus—commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus—each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the “scanning” direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. Because, typically, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally <1), the speed V at which the substrate table is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices as here described can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792, incorporated herein by reference.
In a manufacturing process using a lithographic projection apparatus, the pattern is imaged onto a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of photo-sensitive material (i.e., resist or photoresist). Prior to this imaging step, the substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB), development, a hard bake and measurement/inspection of the imaged features. This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer may then undergo various processes such as etching, ion-implantation (doping), metallization, oxidation, chemo-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an individual layer.
If several layers are required, then the whole procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each new layer. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the substrate (wafer). These devices are, then separated from one another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins, etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained, for example, from the book “Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing”, Third Edition, by Peter van Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4, incorporated herein by reference.
For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may hereinafter be referred to as the “lens”; however, this term should be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection system, including refractive optics, reflective optics, and catadioptric systems, for example. The radiation system may also include components operating according to any of these design types for directing, shaping or controlling the projection beam of radiation, and such components may also be referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a “lens”.
Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such “multiple stage” devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Twin stage lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 and WO 98/40791, incorporated herein by reference.
Needless to say, it is important that the features and profile of the pattern exposed on the target fields of the wafer substrate are replicated as accurately as possible. To this end, manufacturers normally specify the critical dimension (CD) of the exposed pattern in order to characterize the features and profile of the pattern and establish a benchmark level of quality and uniformity. Another important consideration is the ability to manipulate the lithographic fabrication process to repeatedly and increasingly yield high-quality substrate wafers.
There are, however, numerous activities during the lithographic fabrication process that affect the critical dimension uniformity (CDU) and compromise the quality of the exposed patterns. Such non-uniformities may occur across a target field, across a wafer, and between wafers. Indeed, some of the very pre- and post-exposure processes that service and treat the substrate wafers may contribute to variations in the CDU.
For example, as noted above, wafer substrates are usually coated with photoresist prior to lithographic exposure and the prevailing conditions employed by the post-exposure processes, such as, post-exposure bake (PEB) temperatures, can have deleterious effect on the characteristics and performance of the photoresist. This, in turn, compromises CD quality.
In an effort to reduce non-uniformities due to PEB temperature, various attempts have included the use of temperature sensing devices, such as thermo-couplers, resistance temperature detectors, wireless sensors, to detect thermal variations in the PEB and compensate for such variations by adjusting the PEB thermal zones. However, because these temperature sensing devices are macroscopic relative to the substrate target fields and they require additional hardware, their accuracy may be compromised as the extra mass and size can adversely influence the thermal behavior of the PEB plate. Also, some of these temperature sensing devices can only be employed with special test wafer substrates, which may have different properties than production level wafer substrates.
Moreover, because of the limited number of temperature sensing devices that can be coupled to a 300 mm wafer substrate or larger, there may be insufficient spatial resolution to render precise measurements. Finally, using temperature measurements as a basis to determine photoresist response is, at best, an indirect method of achieving satisfactory CD performance.